


The Forgotten Promise

by floweytheking



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 19:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11447649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floweytheking/pseuds/floweytheking
Summary: Mingyu finds a woman who he wants to be with, but unknowingly to both of them she harbours a dark secret





	1. The Beginning

The birds were chirping, the sun was shining brightly, welcoming its rays everywhere. You would expect everyone to love to wake up to this beautiful day, but in a small cottage in literally the middle of nowhere,Penny had just opened her eyes feeling like she always did, tired.  
She sat up and stretched a bit, hearing her back crack she made a hiss sound as it pained her. She looked to her left on the large bed, expecting to see her lover but as usual what she found was empty space that no one had occupied for years.

She found It quite funny that for some reason she always looked at the left side of her bed almost as if she was expecting someone to be there especially since she expected a lover when she had not been in a relationship for a long time

Pondering about it for a bit like she did every morning, she told herself to stop worrying and be focused on her job that she had kept for a long time. Standing up too quickly, she stumbled a bit and landed on her bed, laying there for a while until the black spots disappeared fully.

Finally gone, she stood up slowly and walked to the bathroom. Her bare feet touching the tiles made her jump because it was cold and went back to get her slippers. Pulling a pair of slippers out from under the bed that were surprisingly still decent looking despite the fact that she had been wearing it for 5 years, she put it on.

Walking back to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and then started to shower after getting her clothes out and taking her old clothes off. As she washed her hair she couldn't help but remember something again like she always did when she was showering, she thought of someone asking if she wanted to shower with them. In the beginning when she started taking showers alone, she was weirded out but as time went by she got used to it sadly.

She still remembered that she even had to go to the doctor’s since her parents were worried since she said she had done something like this before when there is no memory of it. There was no problem so they said it's probably because of her mental health so she took medicine everyday for years which did not work but she pretended it did since she didn't want to be told there's something wrong with her.

After graduating university she stopped taking it, she knew her thoughts were weird but true, she came across kins online but it was not exactly the same and she found no one like her.  
Someone who would remember that she ate cake together with a stranger, how she slept next to a stranger, how she remembered the warmth of a calloused hands. Feeling warm and light she smiled stupidly thinking of that. But hearing the alarm on her phone ring, she snapped out of her thoughts and quickly put on her make up.

After she went downstairs, she sat down and started to drink her coffee that was on the table as usual. Appreciating the coffee she thanked the person who made it, which was quite amusing for her since she didn't even know who made it. She had hired people to clean and cook and didn’t see them since they did their work fast like she had requested.  
Noticing the time, she drank her coffee quickly and got out, making sure the door was locked, she walked to the only pathway out of her home. It was very annoying in the beginning to walk along the rocky path with trees covering everything, especially with heels. but like most humans she adapted and got used to it like everything else in her bizarre life.

Finally done walking through the rocky path she saw a small village with very little people living there calmly. It was very hard to find a place like this in the country now since there were always big cities knocking down trees and building new things, but she found it

It was far from everything, but she liked it that way since she disliked loud noises most the time and the place didn't make too much noise other than kids yelling most the time.

Reaching the bus stop, She stood there doing nothing except listening to music, to be more specific rock music She lightly head banged and had to her favourite song and grinned a bit to herself. Signing the lyrics in her head she was enjoying herself.

She quickly got out of her thoughts though when she heard a bunch of children yelling they were going to race to school. She couldn't help but grin even wider as she watched them run up the stairs and not get tired which was something that impressed her since she got tired easily. After all three of the children reached the top, they stopped, noticing her waiting for the bus and ran to her.

" AUNT PENNY!! "

One of the kids glomped her and she started laughing and bent down to hug them all since they were complaining that they couldn't hug her. They eagerly talked about how one of the boys cried in their class and how a girl was confessed to which was amusing considering that they were 5 years old.

One of the kids noticed their mother coming and quickly ran to the bus stop across the street since she had told them to wait there minutes ago.

The woman yelled at them to stop running and look both ways before crossing. Seeing that they reached the bus stop safely she turned to Penny and started a conversation.

" You look good Penny, new eyeshadow? "

As she said that she smiled and talked to her casually asking about her job and how she was. Answering her questions she also asked about her whilst the mother complained how the children were killing her.

As she continued to ramble, she noticed the bus coming across the street and waved at Penny and ran to the kids and yelled at them to wait before they went on the bus.  
Waving to them goodbye, she waited at the bus stop patiently since the countryside was far from where she worked in the city. Coughing a bit, she noticed as usual, there was blood. Grabbing tissue she quickly cleaned it up and threw it. In the beginning when that first happened she freaked out but the doctor said it was alright and rather peculiar but there was no serious problem... she just gave out blood as she coughed and cried.

Remembering her weird past for a bit, she stopped soon after she saw the bus coming and went in while putting coins and sitting in some seat next to someone she didn't know. She looked lazily out the window as usual, her mind wandering aimlessly not really focusing on anything.

Daydreaming, she didn't notice until the bus had reached the last station. A voice of a woman said it was the end of the bus route and told them to get out which made her realise she had reached her stop. Standing up and walking out of the empty bus she continued to walk to the bank where she worked.

Like most normal days in the bank, it was busy with people. There were employees and customers everywhere discussing about different plans like investing and borrowing money while some deposit money to the counters.

Glad she didn't have to deal with customers, she went up the lift and said morning to her colleagues as she moved to her desk. Cracking her knuckles she started to work. She worked and worked for hours without stopping since she wasn't even tired. It was already 2 pm by the time she looked at the clock.

She stood up wanting to get some coffee and was about to ask her colleagues if they wanted coffee too until heard the door open hearing their higher ups loud voice. Sitting back down she listened to his enthusiastic words explaining how they had an intern in their department for the first time.

" Come on INTRODUCE YOURSELF "

Slowly a handsome man behind him walked ahead of her higher up and bowed to everyone. His ears looked red around the tips probably because their senior yelled at him to introduce himself. She could practically hear all the women get shot to the heart because he was rather good looking and tall, something woman liked a lot, even she admitted that he was handsome to a certain extent, but she didn't care.

Turning her chair to her desk, she went back to doing her work until she heard her seniors voice very close almost as if he was behin-

" AH YOU SHALL BE PENNY'S ASSISTANT "

She turned around and gave a very fake smile to him while nodding since this was an unfortunate change of events, but she didn't want to seem disrespectful. Luckily he didn't seem to notice, praising her for being a great young employee and calling her the image of a bank woman. Patting his back, he told her to sit across her and left.

Sitting in the empty desk across hers he opened his mouth probably to ask something but she didn't hear it and started to take out different paperwork on her desk and put it on his.

"Since you're here, these are my files I want them organized tidily in alphabetical order "

He nodded his head with a weak smile and turned to start working on it. Since he wasn't exactly annoying her or anything, she could say he was an alright person.

Sometime passed and their relationship had not evolved at all, she treated him coldly which made him feel weird since most people warmed up to him easily. He wanted to get closer to her though, but he didn't know how to.

As if God had given him a chance a woman came from the lift and begged her to take care of her son while she went out. Unable to say no, she nodded and looked at the boy she was supposed to take care of.

As much as she hated it, she had actually been stuck taking care of people's kids in work and though that wasn't allowed her senior loved kids so he didn't tell the higher ups. This time luckily, the boy she needed to care of was a obedient boy who talked In a soft tone and read books as a hobby.

As she worked, he just sat down and watched her do her work or read his book quietly. Mingyu feeling thirsty stood up and walked to the lounge, the boy following him. Mingyu noticing him there waved a bit and drank a cup of water until the child said.

" You like Aunt Penny right "

Mingyu quickly choked on his water and tried to deny it since he wasn't very certain. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and was in a slump until he met Penny. She was beautiful and had a good sense of humour yes, but she showed no interest in him, treating him coldly.

Unable to make her warm up to him he looked at the boy and trying not to sound desperate, he asked how to make her warm up to him.

" Candy "

" What "

" Get candy for her she loves candy, not coffee flavoured though, she hates coffee. “

" But she always drinks coffee "

" That's just to keep her awake besides it’s you who should be rushing not her. "

Looking confused at those words, the boy shrugged and left Mingyu with many questions. Deciding to listen to the boy out of desperation, he opened the cabinet and took out the sweets he bought for himself. He wanted to eat it all himself, but remembering the boy's words he walked out and sat down across her as usual.

Noticing him staring at her for a long period of time, she raised her head then her eyebrows, asking what he was doing. Feeling embarrassed for being caught, he showed her the candy asking if she wanted it. Looking at the candy, she said no in her head but couldn't stop staring at it until she silently said

" ....Maybe just a bit "

Mingyu smiled at her and gave it to her candy, without even noticing they got closer through that. She started to talk to him more while eating the candy about how the flavour of the candy was, then slowly they went to topics outside of candy and even exchanged numbers with each other.

Things went by quickly after that, at least to him it was slow since every moment with her was precious while she was still the same. The seasons changed, the fashion styles changed, the weather changed everything changed beautifully and peacefully for the first time after a very long time.

She felt a headache coming and took a small rest on the desk, feeling the pain she suddenly felt something flash in her mind, a blurry... image. Seeing darkness, she felt as if a person was stroking her hair so gently, almost as if she was made of glass.

As the headache stopped, she thought about it she gave a bitter smile and stopped doing her work a bit. Mingyu stood up to give the files to her but looking at her expression he walked back to his desk and pretended to work until she seemed to be feeling better.

Noticing his kind gesture, she smiled a bit feeling thankful and after that they warmed up to each other even more. Penny most of the time preferred to be a professional but after he gave her candy, it made her happy and let her be herself even more then before which he could appreciate.

They continued to talk about different topics until she saw him close enough to put him in her star contact list she rarely put people in. Showing it to him he smiled and blushed, thanking her while deciding to do the same thing.

He also decided that since she finally put him in her star list, they should go out for dinner together after work. She raised her eyebrow curiously since they ate out a few times for lunch, never dinner. But thinking of her hunger, she couldn't help but agree to it though since she was hungry anyway and it was a free meal.

After work, they both went to a noodle place that they often went to for lunch and talked like they normally did and ordered the same noodles. They also got a lot of wine and drank a lot. spouting out some joke about their seniors' nose hair they both laughed wildly. Looking at his nose crinkle as he laughed a lot she couldn't help but appreciate art that was Kim Mingyu.

Out of the blue she said  
" Do you know that you are handsome. "

Mingyu grinned and nodded while she called him a narcissistic ass while rolling her eyes

" Do you know? "

" What "

" You're beautiful. "

Hearing that, she felt a blush rise on her cheeks and gave him a gummy smile while saying thanks to him.

Finally deciding it was enough to drink and eat they stood up and decided to go home since it was getting late and surprisingly he weren't that drunk which was interesting since she expected him to be weak to alcohol.

Walking out, she told him to have a pleasant night and turned to walk but he quickly grabbed her hand and insisted that he should escort her since it was dark. Calling him a prince on a white horse, she enjoyed seeing him turn red from her teasing.

Allowing him though they reached the bus stop and to her shock, he even insisted on taking her home too. She kindly refused since she lived far and waved goodbye at him. He also waved goodbye but strangely enough, he continued to stand next to her and she looked at him weirded out about why he wasn't going home.

" Go home "

" Not until the bus comes "

" Ming-- "

Shaking his head she sighed admitting defeat and waited for the bus with him. It was quiet and there was a comfortable silence until Mingyu pointed at the sky. Looking up, they saw the stars in the sky together. Feeling bored he slowly pointed to different stars and pointed out their names for her.

Looking amazed at his memory, she smacked his back and laughed, appreciating his star teachings that she always would remember it. Laughing with her as if on cue, the bus came and she got in waving him good night. As she sat down on her usual seat she watched him wildly wave at her and run after the bus just to wave more.

Laughing lightly, she waved to him and made funny faces to him until he couldn't be seen. Resting into the seat comfortably she took out her phone and listened to some music while Mingyu smiled like an idiot after seeing the bus leave.


	2. Life is not so fun

Like any normal day, she opened her eyes and looked around the room, bored out of her mind. The curtain was not drawn so it looked oddly dark.

She stretched and checked the left side of her bed and was greeted with an empty space and a pillow never used. Sighing at herself for being this pitiful, she stood up and got ready for the day doing her normal routine.

Coming down the stairs she sat down and drank her coffee as usual and headed out.

Waiting in the bus stop, she strangely didn't find any kids but then she remembered it was Saturday. Making her mouth into a shape of an o when she realised that and as usual she waited.

Nothing was out of the ordinary everything seemed well and normal until she got a message on her phone. Taking her phone out she saw that she got a few messages from Mingyu after she fell asleep and stopped responding

‘ have a pleasant sleep ‘

‘ it's already late go back to sleep ‘

‘ sweet dreams ‘

‘ don't be late today ‘’ 

Laughing a bit she messaged back.

‘ I'm not the one always late ‘

Putting her phone back she heard it vibrate again and before she could check she saw the bus come and got on. Tapping her card this time, she sat down in her usual seat on the empty bus and took out her phone.

Looking at his message she snickered and continued to message him from her star contact list.

‘ That was one time ‘

‘ what about that time you came wearing sneakers ‘

‘ That was one time since I was in a hurry and my shoes got wet ‘

‘ why did you even have sneakers ‘  
‘ My sport shoes were wet since I washed it and it rained like the business shoes too so I brought it to play ‘

‘ I have two questions one: did you really call your shoes business shoes and second: Why do you need sport shoes? ‘

‘ hey business shoes are a good name and have I never told you? Tell you at work ‘

‘ alright ‘

Switching off her phone she looked out and realised she was already close to the bus stop. It seemed like talking to him fixated on him which was normal from her star contact list.  
She only had 3 people on that list, Wonwoo, Mingyu and her mother.

Wonwoo from another department met in orientation and they even dated for a while, but they broke it off after realising differing schedules, or at least that was what she said.

She always tried to make sure to respond as fast as she could to those on that list because they were people she really liked.

Getting off the bus, she walked to work as usual the same weather but knowing Mingyu would be there waiting for her, to tell her about why he needs sports shoes, made it seem better.

Perhaps she would see Wonwoo too, but she doubted it since Wonwoo even rarely left his table except to piss during work hours. She walked to her cubicle slowly while her colleague went in front, she noticed Mingyu working, but hearing high heels tapping on the floor he looked up eagerly.

However seeing it wasn't Penny, he went back to work with a sigh. Laughing a bit she walked to her cubicle and hearing high heels again, he looked up and seeing it was her, quickly tried to play cool and act as if he didn't see her approaching.

Reaching her cubicle she sat down and started to work, knowing that it would mess with Mingyu's head since she didn't greet him and as expected he looked distressed. He wanted to say hello but that would be uncool since she wasn't the one greeting him.

He sat in silence for a while awkwardly looking up from his paper to see any special movement, but she made no such movements and continued to work. He started to sulk, deciding it was enough she turned and said.

" Good morning "

With a pleasant smile looking up he nodded and said.  
" Good morning "

" Well let's hear it "

" What "

" The sports shoes "

Mingyu realising what she meant he eagerly jumped a bit and took out expensive sports shoes from his bag. She whistled in awe since he could actually afford these type of shoes since university students were broke, at least she was.

He cleared his throat and began to speak or should she say brag since the more he talked, the more cocky he sounded. It had started sweet saying it was his favourite hobby but then he started to talk about his wins, how he was his university's team captain and how he was in university with a scholarship which did not relate to the shoes but just wanted to share.

She could tell he was trying his best not to be cocky probably thinking it was an ugly personality trait, but she didn't think so. She would prefer a cocky person than an average nice person since that made the person have more colour and interest her.

Looking at him talk about basketball she smiled and nodded since the way he talked was a nice low tone of arrogance compared to others she had met. Noticing her smile, he blushed and started to nervously make weird hand movements around her which just made her laugh.

Slowly he started to laugh too and they tried to control their laughter but they couldn't anymore and burst out laughing while she stopped making sound, Mingyu banged his fist on the table again and again and held his stomach.

She wondered how long had it been since she could laugh this much. The last time she recalled was that time her senior had gotten his wig stuck on his fishing rod and without him knowing he pulled it off while trying to show it to the female workers.

They weren't even sure why they both were laughing a lot over something little and not funny but it felt nice to just laugh together with him over something trivial.

Their laughter finally stopped after a while and they both wiped their tears while patting each other on the shoulder. They saw the senior staring so they quickly got back to work with a smile on both their faces, a smile they knew would not falter all day.

As they worked and worked, they didn't even realise it was lunch break until the senior yelled it and some people took out food while others went out. Reaching into her bag, she took out a sandwich she bought earlier and started eating while watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.  
Mingyu was about to leave and say goodbye to her, but seeing what she was watching he stared at her screen. Looking at him amusingly, she told him to grab a seat and sit down.

" Ah no I don't have food with me... "

Taking the other sandwich out she pulled his chair and patted the seat.

" Come on sit down "

" But I don't have food... "

" What did you think I took out this sandwich for? Decoration? No eat it. "

" No I couldn't "

Grabbing his arm she pulled him down and he sat down while she put the sandwich in his mouth when he opened it probably to refuse. Biting it he noted how tasty it was and sat next to her watching it for the next hour until their break finished.

Hearing everyone come back, he quickly moved back to his table and started to work with a grin on his face since he spent more time with her.

Seeming like it had only been an hour, they didn't realise it was already time to leave work. Packing her bag, she waved at him and left since she wanted to reach home on time to marathon the movie series on her tv since tomorrow was her holiday.

Watching her go, he wanted to yell something at her but couldn't find his voice and stared at her leave. All he could do was hope that in his few weeks left in his internship he could yell it to her what he wanted to say for a long time.

\---------—----------------------------------—----------------------------------—-------------------------

A week had past after that and everything was still the same with them, nothing really new. They worked, they talked, they laughed and enjoyed each other's company. There was nothing that could ruin both their moods until today.

He suddenly came late and there was no bad weather like all those times he said he was late. Everyone greeted him and looking fake, he waved at them with a pleasant smile and sat down. 

He tried his best to seem cheerful and it had worked on the others but she knew better then that, she knew the killer Mingyu smile that charmed all, and it was not like that.

She asked him if he was okay and he replied yes while grinning asking what she meant. They talked like they did usually, but his fake happiness made her feel upset too since he was a dear friend. Trying not to talk to him since he seemed upset, she thought she did the right thing, but it made him feel even worse.

It made Mingyu wonder if she even cared about him, whether their time together was just a joke to her and something little. She said she put him in her star list but who knows how many people she had in that list.

It made him even more upset for the day which she noticed, but chose not to do anything since she felt like he just needed space.

As work finished, everyone left, only her and Mingyu were left in the office. She stood up and packed her bag. After making sure she forgot nothing, she asked him for the last time if he was okay to which he nodded and said to not worry while he stayed to finish off something.

Nodding to him she waved at him lightly and left to go to the hallway with the lift. Finally knowing that he was alone he couldn't help but start to tear up thinking of his mother.

All she would see as was an intern crying in his cubicle after everyone left because he didn't want to get questioned in the dorms and his friends were close but he knew if he told them or really anyone, he would feel like a bother.

He was always alone in the end no matter what, it was his choice to push people away, unable to control it, he was about to cry until he felt a warm body hug him from behind. He was shocked at first but hearing Penny's voice he calmed down.

Slowly he timidly said with a shaky voice.

" w-w-w what are you you doing "

There was no answer, just a warm hug and as they continued to hug him lighting and gently from the back. Almost as if a trigger was pulled, he started to feel all his tears fall down unable to control it anymore.

He felt like a pain, a bother, but he couldn't help but sob as she held him because in her arms, he felt like he could do anything and she would still love him

Slowly in the best soothing voice she could make up she suddenly said.

" I know you feel like crying is weak nor is it masculine"

He sucked in his breath and nodded as he sobbed endlessly

" But no matter what... you will always be a strong man to me "

Hearing those words he sobbed even more and turned back to hug her waist, placing his head on her chest. He felt her clothes get wet and filled with snot, he expected her to push him away him but instead she started to stroke his head softly and held him even tighter

As he hugged her figure, he felt his tears stop. Letting go of him, she pulled away from him much to his displeasure and sat across him and asked slowly and carefully

“ Mingyu do you want to talk? “

Noticing him shaking his shoulders she quickly added.

“ If you do not want to tell me it is alright “

But he wanted to share, he wanted to spend all his time with her, he felt like she would never think he was a bother so he spoke. Talking about University stress and how his mother got sick and was admitted to the hospital.

It made him cry harder to talk about it but she gently wiped his tears and stayed silent knowing that at this moment he just needed comfort. 

As he cried and cried, he couldn’t wonder but when did it start? Was it when he first saw her? When he first understood her personality? His first time he gave her candy thanks to the boy? The first time they ate out together as friends?

He couldn't remember, but as she continued to look at him with unconditional love, he couldn't help but appreciate that he had chosen to fall in love with the right woman.


End file.
